背景回顾：Grafting is possible in both animals and plants. Although in animals the process requires surgery and is often associated with rejection of non-self, in plants grafting is widespread, and has been used since antiquity for crop improvement. 

提出问题：However, in the monocotyledons, which represent the second largest group of terrestrial plants and include many staple crops, the absence of vascular cambium is thought to preclude grafting. 

主要发现：Here we show that the embryonic hypocotyl allows intra- and inter-specific grafting in all three monocotyledon groups: the commelinids, lilioids and alismatids. 

结果1-功能性嫁接体：We show functional graft unions through histology, application of exogenous fluorescent dyes, complementation assays for movement of endogenous hormones, and growth of plants to maturity. 

结果2-嫁接分子响应：Expression profiling identifies genes that unify the molecular response associated with grafting in monocotyledons and dicotyledons, but also gene families that have not previously been associated with tissue union. 

结果3-嫁接价值：Fusion of susceptible wheat scions to oat rootstocks confers resistance to the soil-borne pathogen Gaeumannomyces graminis. 

结论：Collectively, these data overturn the consensus that monocotyledons cannot form graft unions, and identify the hypocotyl (mesocotyl in grasses) as a meristematic tissue that allows this process. We conclude that graft compatibility is a shared ability among seed-bearing plants.

 摘 要 

嫁接在动物和植物中都是可能的。尽管在动物中，嫁接需要进行手术，并且时有发生排异反应；但是在植物中嫁接非常普遍，自古以来就被用于作物的改良。但是，陆地植物中第二大类群、包含很多主粮作物的单子叶植物，由于缺少维管形成层而被认为不能进行嫁接。本文中，作者发现在单子叶三大类群鸭跖草分支、百合分支和泽泻分支物种中，通过胚性下胚轴均能够进行种内或种间的嫁接。作者通过组织学、外源荧光染料、内源激素移动的互补分析，以及让嫁接植物发育至成熟等试验，进一步证明了单子叶植物嫁接体的功能性。表达谱分析鉴定了单子叶和双子叶植物对于嫁接统一的分子响应，但同时也鉴定到了一些之前未曾发现的与嫁接体相关的基因家族。通过将易感的小麦接穗与具抗性的燕麦砧木嫁接，可获得对土传病原菌禾顶囊壳的抗性。综上，本文的研究结果打破了先前认为单子叶植物不能进行嫁接的共识，发现下胚轴作为分生组织能够使得单子叶植物进行嫁接。因此，作者总结道，嫁接亲和是所有种子植物的共有能力。